Countering cyber war

For many, the term cyber war conjures up images of deadly, malicious programmes causing computer systems to freeze, weapon systems to fail, thwarting vaunted technological prowess for a bloodless conquest. This picture, in which cyber war is isolated from broader conflict, operates in an altogether different realm from traditional warfare and offers a bloodless alternative to the dangers and costs of modern warfare, is attractive but unrealistic. Such a scenario is not beyond the realm of possibility, but it is unlikely. Cyber warfare will almost certainly have very real physical consequences.